India today is moving out of the past into a mindset of high-quality products, greater global engagement, and greater share of world trade

Inviting American business to invest in India, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said India and the US should work together leveraging on huge reform measures which have been taken under ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India) programme.

“Let's work together in the spirit of oneness. Let's engage with each other and I am sure we have a bright future for the shared prosperity of the people of the US and India,” the Union Minister said while addressing the India Chamber of Commerce USA's Summit on Global Financial and Investment Leadership on Wednesday in a virtual format.

He said the Indian government is committed to being bold, open, and change

Stating that the US-India relationship will grow from strength to strength in the years to come, Goyal said, “We are at the cusp of a very enduring relationship.”

He said that a great reflection of India-US relation is the bilateral discussion that US Secretary of state Mr M.Pompeo and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar had in Tokyo on the sidelines of the QUAD and the fact that 3rd India-US 2+2 dialogue is expected to take place later this month on October 26 and 27.

He said that the potential between the US and India is boundless. “We are partners who trust each other and we can make rapid strides to provide a trusted source to American businesses to work with a country which is transparent where there is rule-based trading and dialogue.”

The bilateral trade between US and India grew from $126 billion dollars in 2017 to $145 dollars in 2019. “The target we have set of $500 billion dollars in the next 5 years is eminently doable,” the Union Minister said.

He added that India today is moving out of the past into a mindset of high-quality products, greater global engagement, and greater share of world trade. He said that this isn't time for a conservative approach; it's time for bold decisions & bold investments.

The Union Minister said that the Modi government has a very holistic approach. “We are moving from red-tape to red-carpet. We are moving out of the shackles of the past into a more open and liberal foreign investment destination. As the Prime Minister has said, “We have to take the Indian economy out of command and control & take it towards plug and play.”

Describing the reforms being undertaken in the country, Goyal said “India is undertaking efforts to reform the Indian systems of governance, policies and laws around mining, space technology, defence, banking, financial sectors, labor and agriculture reforms.”

“We have embarked on a new journey which will take India to levels never seen before. We are looking at logistics reform to bring down the cost of logistics. We are doing several tax reforms. We have insolvency laws in place. India's corporate tax is amongst the lowest in the world,” the Union Minister said.

“My own Ministry is working at 'plug and play' and cluster development. We are looking at a genuine single-window system which makes it easy for companies and businesses to work in India. We are focusing on improved infrastructure. We promise faster registration, easier availability of infrastructure.”

Goyal mentioning about the close relationship between the two countries, said that India and the US have come to each other's help at every possible juncture in the last two decades, be it India's membership into Nuclear Suppliers Groups or in the UN Security Council or be it America's requirement for necessary medicines at the peak of COVID pandemic.